SEO

Why Technical SEO Matters

Does it seem as if all SEO, short for search engine optimization, is created equal? It’s actually not, and it can be broken down into different forms. This includes technical SEO — which may sound daunting but don’t let the name scare you. You don’t need a deep understanding of technology to understand the concept of technical SEO.

A brief explanation of technical SEO

When you think about SEO, you probably immediately think about keyword-optimized website content, such as articles, blog posts, landing page content, web page content, SKU/product descriptions and headers. It’s certainly the most commonly discussed form of SEO, at least in general conversation. If you’re a company owner, you may have quite a bit of experience in content-driven SEO, or at least a familiarity with it.

Technical SEO is different because it involves the SEO you can’t see. It’s all the backend elements that add to content-related SEO. Think of it this way: Without technical SEO, your content-driven SEO can never fully live up to its potential. However, your visitors will never really notice your technical SEO. It’s for the search engine’s crawlers, not for humans.

Examples of technical SEO

What are some good examples of technical SEO? Consider these website-related concerns:

• Site creation. How has your website been created? What language was used for the programming? What does the framework look like? To a search engine like Google, it’s essential your site be easy to crawl. If you make your website too complex, Google will simply move on. Using outdated programming languages or complex frames and templates will lead to lowered rankings, no matter how wonderful and keyword-optimized your content may be.
• Site speed. Speed definitely plays a huge role in technical SEO. The faster your site loads, the more positive it is for both bots and visitors. You can improve your site speed by eliminating images and videos that simply take too long to load. It’s better to not have them than to ruin your rankings because of a technicality.
• Site navigation. Is it hard for Google to navigate your site? All the keywords in the world won’t help you get a higher position on the search engine rankings. Your site should be very clearly laid out and understandable for crawlers.
• Site meta information. Meta tags, page titles and meta descriptions somewhat straddle technical SEO and content-driven SEO. Yes, they are keyword-rich, but they are also indicators for search engines. When used correctly, these backend elements can serve as a kind of overview for the search engine. They tell the search engine quickly what the web page is going to provide the visitor. It’s like reading the back cover or the inside flap of a book.

Of course, there are other aspects of your site development that constitute technical SEO. These are just some prime examples of them.

Technical SEO lays the groundwork for content SEO

Why is technical SEO necessary? It lays the groundwork for content-related SEO and revs up the response rates for your keyword-rich content. Think of it as the building blocks for a successful SEO program. Without technical SEO, there’s really no foundation in place to keep your SEO moving along. You’re just aiming at a target in the dark.

You need to encourage your SEO any way you can, and that includes being cognizant of your technical SEO. Even if you’re thrilled with your current content SEO results, you should still be concerned about the technical side. After all, you can be sure your top competitors are focused on technical SEO, which means you should be, too.

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